TOKYO, July 4_ _ Sales of new imported vehicles including those assembled by Japanese carmakers abroad totaled 119,741 units in the first six months of this year, down 7.2 percent from a year earlier partly due to high gasoline prices and ...
Japan Economic Newswire via NewsEdge :
TOKYO, July 4_(Kyodo) _ Sales of new imported vehicles including those assembled by Japanese carmakers abroad totaled 119,741 units in the first six months of this year, down 7.2 percent from a year earlier partly due to high gasoline prices and the weakness of the yen vis-a-vis the euro, according to a preliminary report released by an industry group Friday.
The figure for foreign vehicles alone went down 8.8 percent to 105,722 units, causing overall import sales to fall despite a 7.4 percent increase in shipments of Japanese vehicles, said the Japan Automobile Importers Association.
Among major brands, Volkswagen topped the sales ranking, selling 24,883 units and controlling 20.8 percent of the imported car market in Japan.
Second-ranked Mercedes-Benz sold 20,372 units with a market share of 17 percent, followed by BMW with sales of 19,544 units and a market share of 16.3 percent.
For the month of June, sales including imported Japanese vehicles amounted to 22,998 units, down 20.8 percent from a year earlier. Those excluding Japanese products dropped 15.1 percent to 20,725 units. Both figures declined for the second consecutive month.
Higher prices of foreign cars and skyrocketing gasoline prices dampened sales, as did a dearth of new models hitting the market, the association said.
Imports of Japanese brands plunged 50.8 percent to 2,273 units, with Nissan Motor Co. starting production of its Dualis model in Japan in addition to its production at the automaker＇s British plant.
In sales rankings, BMW came out on top, up from second place a month earlier. The brand sold 4,282 units and held a market share of 18.6 percent.
Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz shared the second slot with both booking sales of 4,170 units and carving out an 18.1 percent slice of the market. Volkswagen went down from first place and Mercedes rose one notch.
Imports of Nissan models came to 121 units in the reporting month, compared with 3,665 units the year before.
